Page 38 of His Reluctant Cowboy

Michael stared at the door, unsure if he’d driven Josiah away by asking him out for a beer, completely platonically, or if Josiah really needed space to read and process everything that had happened this weekend. And he truly hoped one day Josiah would come to Michael to talk. About anything.

In the end, he took Josiah at his word and went back inside the house.

Josiah was quiet the next morning when Michael let him in, and he went directly into the kitchen with a small bag of groceries. Probably for whatever dish he’d mentioned cooking today for everyone’s dinner. Dad was still asleep, and Josiah knew how to handle breakfast so Michael grabbed his lunch bag from the small table by the front door and left for work. As much as Michael wanted to see how Josiah was doing, after not seeing him for the rest of yesterday, he also didn’t want to push the younger man.

He’d been pushed around enough.

As soon as he parked, Brand and Hugo emerged from the barn and headed straight for him. Michael had texted Brand on Saturday to let him know Josiah was settling into the trailer and stressed, but nothing else. Everything else Josiah had admitted to him was between them.

Michael climbed out of the cab with his lunch. “Hey, guys, thanks again for Friday night.”

“Happy to help,” Brand replied. “Our dads go way back so yours calling mine was the right move.”

“How does Josiah seem?” Hugo asked. “I texted him once to ask but all he said back was he was fine.”

“He’s adjusting,” Michael replied, choosing his words carefully. “Getting kicked out for no reason and then denied your stuff can screw with anyone’s mind. I’ll tell him you asked after him.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Is it just us three today?” He’d had such a busy weekend that Michael couldn’t remember today’s schedule and who was on it.

“Alan’s on, too—he’s just running behind,” Brand replied. “Me and him are going out to make sure the last of the regular herd are ready for slaughter, then we’re back in the barn. You and Hugo are out with the organic herd running the fence line.”

“Got it, thanks.” Michael was a tad surprised Brand had put himself on barn duty, which varied from polishing saddles to feeding the horses, but he’d always seemed like a hands-on boss. Having grown up here on the ranch, Brand knew how much work it took to keep this sort of business running.

As he saddled up his horse for the day, he couldn’t help wondering if Josiah knew how to ride. Or if he had any interest at all in learning. If he did, maybe Michael could get permission to bring him out here on a weekend—as long as Michael could find someone else to sit with Dad for a few hours. He could almost imagine Josiah on a horse, face tilted up to the sunshine, enjoying the freedom of wandering the vast acres of the ranch.

Freedom from all the things weighing on his heart and soul. Freedom Michael himself had begun to rediscover by being here. A freedom he hoped they both got to feel for a long time to come.

Chapter Eleven

“Press against my palm as hard as you can,” Josiah said. Elmer did as asked with his right hand. They’d begun their first daily physical therapy session after breakfast, which was legs and feet, and now that lunch was done and had settled a bit, Josiah was working Elmer’s arms and hands. The workouts not only kept blood flowing while Elmer was bedbound, but also strengthened his weaker right side.

Elmer huffed. “I’m pushing, I’m pushing. When do you think I can get up from this damned bed?”

“Okay, relax your hand. Thank you.” He grabbed the bottle of lotion from the table near Elmer and squirted some on his own palm. Past clients always seemed to like hand massages, and Elmer was no different—even if he had huffed about it the first time. They were incredibly relaxing. “You’re doing well with your leg strength. Maybe by the end of the week we can try getting you sitting on the edge of the bed. Possibly even on the bedside commode.”

“Hate those things.” Elmer eyeballed the commode, which they’d put in the far corner of the living room until needed. “But I guess it’s better than the damned bedpan.”

“Most patients prefer them to the bedpan, yes.” Josiah rubbed the lotion into the center of Elmer’s hand, gently pressing against the muscles and tendons and sensitive skin. “And I’ll be doing most of the lifting, I just want to be sure you can put both feet on the floor and brace them.”

“Lifting? I’m bigger than you, son.”

“Trust me, I’ve had a lot of practice and know how to stand and lift. Once you and I have it figured out, I’ll show Michael for the weekends when I’m not here.”

“Joy.” But a half smile tickled the corners of his mouth. Josiah imagined it wasn’t easy for a grown man to let his equally grown son give him a bedpan and clean him up after, but Michael had done a great job this past weekend. Elmer was clean, his sheets were clean, and Elmer was in good spirits today.

Josiah moved on to massage Elmer’s left hand. “I know you’re probably tired of me thanking you for the trailer, but you have no idea how much I appreciate it. There aren’t exactly a lot of housing options around here, especially on short notice.”

“It’s no trouble at all. Place has been empty for a few months, and I’d rather see it used than rot away in the yard. Besides, I don’t guess you’ve got family in the area who’d take you in, since you said you were from Tulsa.” Elmer was fishing and not very subtly.

“No, I’m very much alone.” While he’d admitted to growing up in Tulsa and going to school there, he hadn’t told Elmer much else about his past, and he was grateful that Elmer didn’t push. He poked gently a little, probably out of natural curiosity, but didn’t push.

“Except you ain’t alone, son. You’ve got friends here, and I don’t know why that idiot sheriff kicked you out like that, but you’re welcome to stay for as long as you need.”

Josiah’s mind jumped back to a few months ago, when Elmer’s coin collection went missing and Seamus had arrested Hugo for it. “You aren’t worried Sheriff McBride kicked me out because I stole from him? Or lied or did something worse?”

Elmer studied him for a while, not answering until Josiah had finished massaging his left hand. “No, I don’t think I am. I like to think I can judge a person’s character, and I was wrong when I asked Hugo to leave. I should have trusted him, because I liked the boy a lot. He reminded me a bit of Michael when he was younger. But I listened to McBride instead, and I regret that. If you could have seen your own face when you showed back up Friday night? You’d have believed you, too.”

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